Do we live in the world the previous generation guided?

To start off with I and 18 years old. Therefore I am still in school, and the leader of the world (STEM field, political, artist, Et cetera) our from previous generations.
Do we have the power (for lack of better words) to choose how my generations is going to lead the world? ( energy wise, political, Et cetera) or are we condemned to keep committing the same choices?

Mar 7 2013:
what would the mechanisms of this condemning would be? ignorance surely. a mistake not understood will be repeated.

“One day Alice came to a fork in the road and saw a Cheshire cat in a tree. Which road do I take? she asked. Where do you want to go? was his response. I don't know, Alice answered. Then, said the cat, it doesn't matter.”

Mar 8 2013:
You are NOT condemned to making the same choices. In fact, it's very difficult for you to do so because your generation knows so much more than my generation knew at your age (and we still changed the world dramatically). Your generation has the Internet which is a wonderful education source. My generation did not have access to so much knowledge at your age. You have a wonderful advantage, if you educate yourselves beyond the lies and limits that are indoctrinated into you through your state-sponsored "educational" systems.

Mar 8 2013:
the decisions we make today determine the choices we have tomorrow

in a way we are condemned to keep making the same inherently flawed choices, however, if one would really want to improve, and i mean really be committed to changing something big in a big way, then one must swim against the tide of the billions who are daily controlled by their desires, their inner beast of personal and individual gain.

I have no idea how to do this, i just follow my own path, its sometimes considered by others as weird, but so what.

perhaps we need to ask why we are governed/led by the nose/desires.

in short "YES" you have the power, to choose how your generation is going to lead the world, however, some choices have already been removed from you, others have been replaced by extremely destructive ones, and still other are different from 20 years ago.

Your choices are changing almost every week, so the 'system' is trying (not really) to prepare you for a future that we have no idea what it will look like in the next 5 years, you may inherit a global wasteland, or a second planet, or both.

Mar 7 2013:
From a financial perspective the answer is Yes, as your generation has been saddled with a lot of debt, which has and will emaciate the economy and economic opportunity. If I was you I would get educated about this and be a loud voice on the subject.

Mar 7 2013:
You are not condemned to making the same choices. You will make choices in a world that shows the distinct prints of those who came before you.

What is also true is that the multiple generations that are alive at the same time continue to affect the world over their lifetimes and beyond. We don't really live, and lead, I think, one generation at a time.

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